Ghosting
A fanfiction based on an AU where Reuben is a ghost. Prologue Reuben's eyes were almost shut. His vision shifted and blurred every second. His tiny pig body wouldn't be able to hold the pain he felt. His bones were broken; he knew it. He was bruised, bleeding, and dying. All in front of his best friend. The tanned brunette kneeled on the ground, tears threatening to spill down her face. The small pig watched his lifelong companion intently. "You're a hero, Reuben, you know that?" His heart broke to hear the sorrow in the girl's words. Jesse's friends were giving the two space, but they looked like they wanted to hug Jesse and Reuben. "You just helped save the world!" Reuben took comfort in those words. He held them close to his heart. "C'mon, Reuben, say something," Jesse pleaded. Upon hearing the request, Reuben forced his tiny and battered body to support itself and rise up. He oinked once, saying "I'm trying." Then the small animal's leg gave out and he collapsed to the floor. "It's okay, boy, I'm here," the girl said. "I'm here." Her voice cracked at the end, shaking with tension and sadness that threatened to break through. A gloved, armored hand was placed gently upon the injured animal's side. Reuben felt a brief respite in the pain. His vision was failing him, but he knew that it was Jesse. She was by his side, like she'd promised. Reuben oinked softly. The unspoken "I love you," was only understood by the one who was intended to hear it. His heartbeat faltered. This is it. I'm going to die, He thought. Finally, his body failed him. Reuben's eyelids shut slowly, and his body vanished in a small puff of smoke. Chapter 1 Reuben woke up to a surprising lack of pain. He could not see anyone near him. Did they leave me? Why? The tiny animal thought. His brain tried to answer his question as best it could. Maybe they used a healing potion and walked off... was I just in a daze and missed them? Black eyes scanned the area. There! He saw a huge group of people heading away. Reuben scrambled to his small legs in an attempt to catch up. He didn't know why so many people where there, but he knew Jesse was with them. He knew her scent since he was a piglet. The pig chased after the group in a rush. He oinked to let them know he was coming. No one reacted. Wow. I don't think they're talking, and that was pretty loud... Reuben noted. Confused, he galloped past the others skillfully and trotted to Jesse's side. Then he heard the sobs. He was in such a rush to see his group again he hadn't taken note. But now he saw his best friend, hugging something tightly to her chest and crying harder then he'd ever seen. Axel, Lukas, Petra, and Olivia were all by the armored female, whispering comforting words. Reuben pressed his small, velvety ears to the side of his head. He oinked, asking "Jesse?" However, no one reacted. Olivia moved slightly to the side to stop Axel from tripping, revealing what the precious clutched item was to the confused animal. A porkchop? Why-'' A sudden stream of memories pelted the small pig's mind. He died. He was dead. That was ''his porkchop held so closely to his closest friend. Reuben froze. But I'm still here... I'm not dead... But then he remembered how everyone had seemingly left him, how no one could hear him, and how no one cared he was right there. He sneaked a glance at his leg. It was ghostly, transparent. He could clearly see the stone behind it. He was glowing a soft pink, and he tinted the stone slightly grayish pink when he looked through his body. No... THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! He thought frantically. He couldn't be dead. Jesse was upset without him and he can't do anything. People walked right through the ghostly apparition, paying it no heed. Almost in a daze, the loyal ghost started to walk by Jesse. ---- The ghost stood by his greatest friend. He had learned a few things while being a ghost. One, he had sort of a human-like ghost form, accompanied with whispy wings that let him fly. It came with a pink pig hoodie, gave him pale pink hair, black irises, and pinkish brown jeans. Also black sneakers. Two, he preferred to stay as a human because he could talk as easily as he could think, somehow. And it helped to see the others do it often and being smarter than the average pig. Three, he was bound to Jesse. Reuben figured it was because she had been the closest to him and she was touching him when he died. The spirit was not able to stray far from the girl. Not that he minded, of course. Just after her big speech, Jesse stood alone in her designated room in the treasure hall. "You're awfully quiet," Reuben commented. He turned to take a glance at her face. Sure enough, the brunette was furiously blinking back tears. The ghost knew she wouldn't handle talking about him during the ceremony that well. The living hero was very strong; she'd been able to shove aside her feelings in favor of helping everyone she could. However, strong doesn't mean invincible. Reuben just wished the others knew. Jesse knew how to hide her feelings. She could hide it from everyone but a ghost she wasn't even trying to hide it from. The ghost watched as she struggled to regain her careful composure. Reuben flew through the walls of the room and looked down the hallway. Luckily, no one was around. Flapping his angel-like wings, Reuben coasted back to Jesse's side. She had composed herself again, and was working on cleaning the things she had brought from the treehouse that would be safer here. Reuben sat himself on a nearby desk. If he wasn't trying to move through something, he found that he couldn't. He silently watched his childhood friend occupy herself quietly. He made no move to conceal the annoyed expression on his ghostly face. Axel shouted something about testing out a new TNT canon. Jesse laughed lightly to herself and then left the room. Reuben was too absorbed in his own thoughts to realize he'd been there for a good five minutes. An invisible wall struck Reuben's side and started pushing him towards Jesse's location. The spirit gently pushed himself up to float in the air and let this happen. He could avoid the force if he wanted to, but he enjoyed it. He finally caught up to Jesse and Axel. The two were trying to set the canon up with TNT and firing it in a designated "safe zone" for TNT. Reuben circled the two, studying the machine. It was a simple TNT using water and repeaters like normal. Axel loaded it with a lot more TNT then it would probably be able to launch. "Axel, that's a lot of TNT. I don't think it's safe," Jesse pointed out. Axel shrugged. "C'mon, Jesse, where's your sense of adventure? This will be awesome!" The strong man replied. Reuben knew the explosion enthusiast wasn't trying to put them in danger on purpose, but he had a bad feeling about it. The spirit floated closer to the tanned female. His suspicions were confirmed when Axel lit the TNT, but it got jammed by the extra explosives. "MOVE!" Reuben shouted in alarm. Jesse was already in motion, grabbing Axel by the arm and pulling him away from the machine in sheer power. He would have found the shortest member of the group trying to drag the tallest around funny if it weren't for the TNT. When the bomb exploded, only the redstone was destroyed, though. Reuben flew over to the two. Axel looked extremely guilty. Jesse looked relieved to be alive. Reuben desperately wanted to hug them. He settled for giving a vague hug and ended up almost falling through Jesse. He made no attempt to hide his sadness. He drifted to the ground. "Axel, next time you try to overload a TNT canon, remind me to make sure we're safe," Jesse muttered. Reuben desperately wished he could have done something to help. But he was just a ghost. A ghost unable to interact with anyone he had ever known. Category:Fanfiction